Top Hong Kong activists found guilty for protests - BBC News

 Seven of Hong Kong's most prominent pro-democracy campaigners have been convicted of unlawful assembly relating to huge demonstrations two years ago.

Hong Kong: Police tackle 12-year-old to the ground in Hong Kong

 

Hong Kong police have come under fire after footage of officers tackling a 12-year-old girl to the ground near a pro-democracy protest went viral.

Police said the girl took part in an illegal gathering and officers used "minimum force" after she "ran away in a suspicious manner".

The girl's family said she was simply out to buy school supplies and became scared when confronted by police.

Belarus protest: How is Lukashenko's support outside Minsk?

People have taken to the streets of the Belarusian capital Minsk once again to demand President Alexander Lukashenko step down. The demonstrations began three weeks ago after he claimed an overwhelming re-election victory in a poll that observers called neither free nor fair.

What's happening in Minneapolis? Reports from the ground | DW News

Following days of unrest over the death of George Floyd, a black man in police custody, during one of the protests a truck appeared to plough into a crowd of protestors. There were fears of mass casualties and onlookers reacted with anger. Police told DW the driver of the tanker was apprehended for his own safety. It's not clear whether he deliberately drove into the crowd

Rich Hong Kong Tycoon Compares Protesters To Slaves In America

One can disagree with your political opponents  ideology without insulting not only those you oppose but a group of people whose history is fraught legal discrimination, voter suppression,  Jim Crow, Sundown Towns and legalized physical abuse and death.  

A leading Hong Kong businesswoman and member of the city's Executive Council, which deliberates policy, compared the struggle of pro-democracy protesters to that of slaves in the American South in the 19th century. The remarks, which ran in a local English-language daily, have triggered an angry response from many in the Chinese territory.Laura Cha, who is also a board member at the prominent bank HSBC, urged that protesters seeking further democratic reforms be more patient. "American slaves were liberated in 1861 but did not get voting rights until 107 years later," she was quoted as saying by the Standardnewspaper. "So why can't Hong Kong wait for a while?"

She was speaking at a Hong Kong trade roadshow in Paris.
Aside from the historical inaccuracies, it is considered by many bizarre and inflammatory to link the former British colony's population to the brutal historical experience of slavery in America and the miseries that followed for the country's repressed and marginalised black communities. Those Many Hong Kongers who have taken to the streets fear that China is trying to rein back the city's unique freedoms and that Beijing's future policies may amount to a kind of voter suppression.

Laura Cha has little clue to the awful history of African Americans beginning with slavery which last for more than 150 years.  That was followed by Jim Crow Laws which legalized discrimination against these same people by disallowing them to eat at lunch counters,  separate entrances for private businesses such as movie theaters and department stores and schools which were so underfunded and forced to be separate all came to a head in Brown v.  Board of Education Topeka Kansas 



 

On China's Mainland, A Less Charitable Take On Hong Kong's Protests-listen to the story

Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong have impressed people around the world with their idealism, politeness and guts. But in mainland China, the view is different.

Because the Communist Party controls the news media there, many in China don't know that much about the demonstrations. And those who do are likely to see the protesters as spoiled troublemakers.

To understand how many Chinese have viewed the protests, it's worth considering how different Hong Kong, a wealthy, cosmopolitan city, is from mainland China.

The former British colony is more like New York than Beijing. It enjoys far more freedoms than the mainland, including free speech and an open Internet. So when protesters took to the streets to demand electoral democracy, some on the mainland saw them as asking for too much, too soon.

People like Mr. Hua, who works at Shanghai's prestigious Fudan University, and who refused to give his full name or job title because he was afraid of getting in trouble with the authorities.

Hong Kong protests persist after ultimatum, mob attacks

CY Leung issued an ultimatum today telling the pro democracy  protesters they must clear out or there could be severe consequences.  Would he actually allow for full on violence from the police against the protesters or would he ask the PLA's 6,000 soldiers stationed in Hong Kong to intervene? Hopefully he won't cross that line as what comes next could be far worse than having people blocking a few streets and some intersections.

Hong Kong's leader has warned that police will take "all actions necessary" to ensure government offices and schools reopen on Monday. 

CY Leung called on demonstrators to allow the government and citizens to "resume their normal work and life" after a week of disruption.
Activists oppose China's plans to vet candidates to replace Mr Leung in 2017 and are demanding fully free elections.

Tens of thousands remained on the streets on Saturday night.
Mr Leung's televised comments came after street fights led to the postponement of talks between the government and the protesters.

Thousands are attending an anti-violence demonstration in the Admiralty district, and the BBC's Babita Sharma, in Hong Kong, says the protest is one of the largest yet.


    

Drone Video Shows The SIze Of Protest Crowd In Hong Kong

Fora panoramic perspective on the student-led democracy protests in Hong Kong, check out this high-flying drone video.


A high-flying drone swept over throngs of protesters lining the highways of Hong Kong's central business district Monday, Sept. 29, capturing sweeping panoramic shots of the thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators.

On Sunday (Sept. 28), a small student-led group in Hong Kong started a sit-in to demand democratic elections in the city. After police used tear gas, pepper spray and batons to disrupt the peaceful sit-in, other Hong Kong residents flocked to the movement, joining the demonstration by the thousands, the New York Times reported.

Japanese Politician Compares Protesters Against State Secrets Bill To Terrorists

Liberal Democratic Party General Shigeru Ishiba on Friday posted comments to his blog in which he compared those demonstrating against the governments proposed State Secrets bill to terrorists.  What's sad is that Mr. Ishiba isn't the first nor will be the last to use terrorism as a slur against those who oppose a governments policy.   During the runup to the Iraq war the Bush administration used similar tactics in declaring either you're "with us  or you're against us" implying rather implicitly that any opposition to the invasion of Iraq was tantamount to supporting terrorists.  Statements weren't the only means used to silence those they considered to members of the radical left.  The USA Patriot act, warrantless wiretapping, illegal searches of homes and businesses and indefinite detention of Americans labeled enemy combatants.     Where does it all stop.  For its clear that Mr. Ishaba doesn't believe in the peoples right to for redress of their grievances against the government.  He's saying they should shut-up and let those who their betters decide what's best for them.

Mr. Ishiba Japan has an elected representative government. You may have heard of this particular concept its all the rage now.  Yet, the Liberal Democratic Party which you lead clearly doesn't believe in the  peoples right to demonstrate against a law which they strongly believe will infringe upon the their constitutional rights.

LDP Secretary General Shigeru Ishiba is under fire for comments he made on his blog on Friday, in which he likened civic groups protesting outside the Diet against the state secret bill to terrorists.
Ishiba wrote that their “noisy protests against the government decision are tantamount to terrorism.”
On Sunday, Ishiba responded on his blog. “No matter which side you are opposing or supporting, to simply shout, carry on, and cause a public disturbance for many people, is decidedly an ineffective way to express public opinion.”

History seems to believe a subject Shigeru Ishiba missed during his education:  I am sure he's never heard of the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, the Orange Revolution in the Ukraine, the demonstrations in the Philippines which lead to the downfall of Ferdinand Marcos which led to the election of  Corazon Aquino.  

All three of these revolutions were nonviolent and led to dramatic changes in the way these countries were governed.